Winding machine



Feb.-4, 1941. R. PAsH WINDING MACHINE Filed March 3, 1939 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR R PASH A "ma Feb. 4, 1941. R. PASH 2,230,363

WINDING MACHINE Filed March 3, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR PASH ATTORNEY Feb. 4, 1941 R. PASH A 2,230,363

WINDING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 3 FIG. 5

INVENTOR R. PASH .4 TTORNE) Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES WINDING MACHINE Robert Pash, Roselle, N. J., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York,

N. Y'., a corporation of New York Application March 3, 1939, Serial No. 259,50.

6 Claims. (Cl. 242-4) This invention relates to winding machines, and more particularly to machines for winding an insulated electrical conductor upon a toroidal core.

Electrical coils having a doughnut shaped or toroidal core of magnetic material with a winding of insulated electrical conductor strand wound thereon in turns passing through the central aperture of the core have innumerable applications in the electrical arts, especially in the communications arts. Perhaps the most satisfactory and eflicient class of machine for winding such coils is that in which a peripherally grooved spool ring, containing in the groove a supply of wire to be wound on a toroidal core, and a closely associated guide ring, having means to take wire from the spool ring and lay it on the.

core, are both interlinked with the core to be wound. A typical machine of this class is minutely disclosed and described in U. S. Patent 1,994,661 issued March 19, 1935, upon. an application by the present inventor. In such a machine, the spool ring and guide ring are in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the core and pass through the'center of the core. However, since the two rings are ordinarily of considerably greater diameter than the core, thelatter does not pass through the two rings at their common center, but at a point between their center and their peripheries. Hence, when the core is being wound, the portion of wire extending from the spool ring over the guide of the guide ring and to the core varies cyclically in length. Therefore there arises a difiicult problem in maintaining the constant, though small, linear tensionupon the portion of wire being wound which is required in order to lay the wire in substantially even turns and smooth layers on the core without allowing slack to appear, on the one hand, or, on the other, over-stressing the often fine and delicate wire.

An object of the present invention is to provide improved means, in a machine of the general character described, for imposing a satisfactorily constant adjustable tension on. the wire being wound on a toroidal core.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention may be embodied in a machine for winding'toroidal coils and comprising a spool ring and a guide ring mounted in close juxtaposition to each other and to be rotatable through the aperture of a toroidal gore in a plane at right angles to the.'core, meansgto drive the guide ring to take strand from the.fspool ring and wind it on the core'while thereby driving the spool ring in rotation and means to yieldingly resist the retation of the spool ring and including a broke I drum driven by the spool ring, a helical friction member coaxial with and engaging the drum, and adjustable resilient means to control the pressure of the friction member against the drum.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are applied to iden tical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. l is a view in front elevation and partly in vertical section of machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view thereof in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a broken detail view on the line.44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a broken detail view on the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the spool ring and guide ring taken on .a radius of the spool ring; and

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

In describing the machine disclosed, only so much of the mechanism will be described in detail as pertains to the present invention, the general organization and operation being described in detail in U. S. Patent 1,994,661, cited above, to which reference may be had for these phases.

A toroidal core to be wound maybe held in a horizontal position between the jaws 20 and 2| of a clamping device therefor, generally indicated at 22, and mounted on a vertical shaft 23 in such fashion as to be rotatable horizontally to and fro about the center of the core to distribute the turns of the winding on the core. A spool ring 24 and a guide ring 25 are mounted side by side to be perpendicular to the central plane of a core heldin the clamp 22 and to pass through the center of the aperture of the core.

The guide ring 25 is carried .on and driven by four pinions 26 which engage .an internal gear 21 formed on the ring. 25. Each pinion 26 is rigid on one end of a shaft 28 having another pinion 29 secured on the other end, and the fourpinions 29 are driven by a' common internal gear 30 secured to a disk 3|. The disk 3| is driven by two pins 32 mounted therein on which links 33 are pivoted. The other ends of the links 33 are forked, and in each of these forks is rotatably mounted a cam roller 34. The two cam rollers 34 run on an internal cam 35 formed in a stationary member 36. A link 31 is pivoted to each of the links 33 on the pin which is also theaxle of the roller-.34. The other end of each of the links 31 is pivoted on a pin 36 mounted in a rotatable disk 39 secured to a hollow spring barrel 46. A pair of heavy clock springs 4| is housed in the barrel #6. These springs are secured at their outer ends to the barrel 49 which is rigidly secured to a shaft 42 journalled at 43 in a hollow shaft 44. The innerends of the springs 4| are secured in a stub shaft 45 integral with or rigidly secured to the disk 3|. The springs 4| tend to urge the pins 36 toward the pins 32 and thus keep the rollers 34 at all times in contact with the cam 35.

The disk 39 is driven by one or more pins 46 integral therewith or mounted therein which pass through corresponding bores in a disk 41 parallel and adjacent to the disk 39. The disk 41 also has pins 46 mounted therein, which, in the position of the parts shown, enter corresponding bores 49 in the stationary cam body 36, and thus lock the entire chain of mechanism thus far described against motion. The disk 41, however,

is mounted on and slidable with the hollow shaft 44 to release the pins 46 fromthe member 36 without releasing the pins 46 from the disk 41, the pins 46 being longer than the pins 46. The shaft 44 and disk 41 are yieldingly urged toward the right (Fig. 1) from the position shown by the compression spring 56 which abuts at one end against the closed end of the barrel 46 and at the other end against the journal block 43 secured in the shaft 44. The disk 41 and shaft 44 may be held in the position shown or allowed to be moved to the right by the spring, by a yoked clutch lever 5| secured to a shaft 52 actuable by a handle not shown. The connecting means between the lever 5| and the shaft 44 are also not shown to avoid further complicating an already complicated showing, but may be of any approved construction for such familiar linkages.

The disk 41 is also provided on its right side with one or more pins 53, which, when the disk 41 is moved to right engage a disk 54 integral on a hollow shaft 55 rotatable on the shaft 44 and in bearings 56 supported in the machine frame. The disk 54 is provided in its periphery with a plurality of notches or recesses by which to be engaged by the pin or pins 53. A fly-wheel 51 is keyed on the outer end of the shaft 55 and is driven by a friction wheel 56 mounted on the shaft of a motor 59.

When the parts are in the position shown, used when the spool ring 24 is to be filled as hereinafter described, the flywheel 5I, shaft 56 and disk 54 run idly so far as the mechanism now under consideration is concerned, while the chain of mechanism from the. disk" to the guide ring 25- is locked against motion by the pins 46 engaging in the bores 49 of the stationary cam body 36.

When the clutch lever 5| is actuated to shift the shaft 44 and disk 41 to the right (to wind wire from the spool ring by way of the guide ring upon a core in the clamp 22), the disk 54 is engaged by the pins 53 and thus drives the disk 41 at constant rotary speed.

The disk 41 then drives the disk 3| by means of the toggle linkages 33, 31 at a speed of rotaions 29, shafts 26, pinions 26 and gear 21 to the guide ring 25. The character of, effect, and

necessity for this cyclically varying speed of the guide ring is fully explained and discussed in U. S. Patent 1,994,661 already cited.

It may be noted here that both the spool ring 24 and the guide ring 25 are incomplete annuli, each having a gap therein for the introduction of an unwound core and the removal of a wound core. The guide ring 25 carries, at one side of its gap, an overhanging guide lug 66 over which wire being wound passes from the spool ring to a guide sheave 6| mounted on the guide ring, from which the wire passes to the core.

The spool ring 24 is supported on a plurality (here three pairs) of grooved rollers 62, each rigid on one end of a shaft 63 having a pinion 64 secured on its other end. All the pinions 64 mesh with a common sun gear 65 formed on the periphery of one end of a hollow' outer brake drum 66 rotatably supported in a bearing 61 mounted in the machine frame. Within the drum 66 is an inner brake drum 66 peripherally spaced from the drum 66 and having a helical friction member 69 wound on andsecured at one end to the peripheral surface of the inner drum 66, the other end of the friction member 69 being secured to a ring I6 fastened to the back of a dial plate II. The ring I6 has an integral drum or sleeve I2 coaxially rotatable within the inner drum 66, and twin clock springs I3 housed between the sleeve I2 and the drum 66 are each secured at one end to the drum and at the other end to the sleeve.

The dial plate II is secured to and carries a gear I4 which is driven by a pinion I6, which in turn is driven by any suitable mechanism (not shown) from the motor 59, but which includes a clutch by which the pinion 16 may be connected to or disconnected from being driven by the motor.

A reserve supply of wire to be wound is coiled on a reel II and supported in an angle formed by two flexible belts I6 and I9 driven by the motor 59 through mechanism whose construction and operation form no part of the present invention, except to state that a clutch is included therein to connect the belt driving gearing to or disconnect it from being driven by the motor.

Assuming now that the spool ring 24 is empty of wire and that an unwound core has been locked into the clamp 22'to be provided with a winding, wire is drawn manually from the reserve supply reel I'I alongthe path indicated by the line 66, passed through the center hole in the core and attached to the spool ring 24, as described in the patent cited above. The'clutch lever 5| is shifted to the left or left in the leftward position, and thus, as described above, the

guide ring 25 and its mechanism are disconnected from the motor andlocked against motion. The

clutch which controls the pinion I6 is actuated to drive the pinion and the clutch which controls the belts I6 and 19 is also actuated to set these belts in motion. The motor and mechanism are hyde condensation product known as B'akelite," or the member 69 may be of any other suitable substance, which will make the member hard, durable and springy.

The spring 13 is so wound within the drum 66 and the helicalmember 69 is so coiled on the drum 66 and secured to the ring Ill and the drum 68, that the effort or the spring I3 is to uncoil the member 69, enlarging the diameter of the helix of 69 to press outwardly against the inside of the drum 66. The frictional drag of the helix 69 on the drum 66 will then drive the drum and its integral gear 65, the pinion 66, shafts 63, grooved rolls 62, and the spool ring 26. The spool ring is driven counterclockwise as seen in the direction of Fig. 5, and so takes up wire fed to it along the line 86 from the reserve reel 11.

The drive of the belts 18 and I9 is such that the wire is fed ofi from the reel 11 a trifle more slowly than the spool ring 24 would take up the wirewere there no slip in the mechanism driving the ring 24. Thus thewire being wound up on the spool ring is under a constant tension and is laid on the ring in snug smooth turns since the drum 66 slips on the member 69. The slip of the drum 66 on the helix is such that the drag of the drum on the helix tends to wind the helix itself tighter on the drum 68 and thus to ease the frictional engagement of the member 69 with the drum 66. This eiiect is resisted by the spring 13.

When the required length of wire from the reel 11 has been wound on the spool ring, which may be indicated by a metering device 8| connected to the mechanism driving the belts 18 and 19, the clutches in the drives of the belts and of the pinion 16 are disconnected. The wire is then cut.

at the outer end, hooked down out of the way as indicated at 82.

The inner end is secured to the core positioned in the clamp 22, and the clutch lever 5| moved to the right, thus connecting the driving mechanism for the guide ring 25. The spool ring clutch is left disconnected. The mechanism is arranged to now drive the guide ring clockwise as seen in Fig. 2 and at the cyclically varying speed of rotation described above. The member 60 and sheave 6! on the guide ring may then take the wire (secured at one end to the core) and lay it around the core in successive turns passing through the central hole of the core. The clamp is turned to and fro to rotate the core back and forth about its center and thus to distribute the turns overa predetermined segment of the core.

Wire thus wound on the core is drawn over the member 60 and sheave 6| from the spool ring and the spool ringis thus forced to revolve, in the same direction as the guide ring, at such a rate that its peripheral speed will equal the linear speed of the wire from the spool ring to the core. The cyclic variation of speed of the guide ring is such as to cause the spool ring to be driven at substantially constant rotary speed.

The spool ring, being thus driven, drives the rollers 62, shafts 63, pinions 64, gear 65 and drum 66. The drum 66, by the frictional engagement with the helix 69 tends to drive this last and so the ring 16, dial II and gear 14. Some positive stop means could be supplied if necessary to hold the gear l4 and so the helix 69 stationary if necessary. However, it is found in practice that the frictions between the members of the mechanisms behind the gear 14, including the clutchfor connecting and disconnecting this gear to and from the motor, are sufficient ordinarily to hold the helix stationary while the drum 66 slides over it. The friction of this drum on the helix then supplies the tension in the strand being wound from the spool ring on the core required to do the winding in smooth, close and even turns.

It is to be noted that, both when the spool ring is being driven in one direction to fill it with strand and when it is running in the opposite direction for winding strand on the core, the drum 66 slips on the helix 69 in the same direction relatively to the helix, tending in both instances to coil and narrow the helix on the drum 68, and that this effect is countered by the ten v sion of the spring 13 which tends to uncoil and widen the helix. The tension in the strand whether this is being wound on the spool ring or drawn from it is balanced between the tension of the spring and the frictional drag of the helix on the surrounding drum.

It will be clear that, especially in the case of iine and delicate wire being wound, there must be no shocks originating in and transmitted through the mechanism to the wire. Hence arises the importance of the mechanism particularly disclosed in Fig. 8. It is the interaction between the cam 35 and the cam rollers 34 which governs the alternatingly positive and negative acceleration of the guide ring 25. The interposition in this mechanism of the springs 4| ensures continuous efiective contact at all times of the rollers against section, as the strand is laid around one of the corners. The sensitivity of the braking effected by the combination including the springs 13, friction member 69 and drum 66 is such that if the strand be jerked for any reason, the brake releases practically instantaneously and takes hold again at once with gradually increasingefiectiveness.

The, particular machine herein disclosed as embodying the various features of the invention is illustrative only and may be modified and departed from variously without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for'winding toroidal coils, which machine comprises a spool ring to contain a supply-of strand to be wound on a toroidal core, a guide ring to withdraw a continuously cyclically varying length of strand from the spool ring and to wind the same on the core, means to drive the guide ring at a cyclically varying rate of'rotation to withdraw strand from the spool ring at constant linear speed of the strand and thereby to "by to impose a linear tension upon the strand being wound.

2." A machine for windingtoroidal coilsfwhich machine comprises a spool ring to contain a supply of strand to be wound 'on a toroidal core, a

guide ring to withdraw a continuously cyclically varying length of strand from the spool ring and to wind the same on the core, means to drive the guide ring at a cyclically varying rate of rotation to withdraw strand from the spool ring at constant linear speed of the strand and thereby to drive the spool ring at constant speed of rotation, the withdrawal of the strand being the sole means to drive the spool ring, andadjustable brake means to resist the rotation of the spool ring and thereby to impose a linear tension upon the strand being wound.

3. A machine for winding toroidal coils, which machine comprises a spool ring to contain a supply'of strand to be wound on atoroidal core, a guide ring to withdraw a continuously cyclically varying length of strand from the spool ring and to wind the same on the core, means to drive the guide ring at a cyclically varying rate of ro tion to withdraw strand from the spool ring at constant linear speed of the strand and thereby to drive the spool ring at constant speed of rotation, the withdrawal of the strand being the sole means to drive the spool ring, and brake means to resist the rotation of the spool ring and thereby to impose a linear tension upon the strand being wound, the said brake means including a rotatable brake member driven by the spool ring, a helical friction member in frictional engagement with the brake member and so formed and wound that the normal drag of the brake member thereon tends to-lessen the frictional engagement, and spring means to yieldingly maintain the frictional engagement.

4. A machine for winding toroidal coils, which machine comprisesa spool ring to containa supply of strand to be wound on a toroidal core, a guide ring to withdraw a continuously cyclically varying length of strand from the spool ring and to wind the same on the core, and means to drive the guide ring at a cyclically varying rate of rotation to withdraw strand from the spool ring at constant linear speed of the strand and thereby to drive the spool ring at constant speed of rotation, the withdrawal of the strand being the sole means to drive the spool ring,ithe said driving means including a driving member running at constant rotary speed, a member to be driven thereby at varying rotary speed, means variably connecting the driving member to the driven member and having a cam follower, a cam, and resilient means to maintain the cam follower constantly in contact with the cam face.

' on tends to lessen the frictional engagement, and

5. A machine for winding toroidal coils, which machine comprises a spool ring to contain a supply of strand to be wound on a toroidal core, a guide ring to withdraw a continuously cyclically varying length of strand from the spool ring and 6 to wind the same on the core, and means to drive the guide ring at a cyclically varying rate of rotation to withdraw strand from the spool ring at constant linear speed of the strand and thereby to drive the spool ring at constant speed of 10 rotation, the withdrawal of the strand being the sole means to drive the spool ring, the said driving means including a driving member running at constant rotary speed, a member to be driven thereby at varying rotary speed, a toggle variably 15 connecting the driving member to the driven member and having a cam roller on the central joint of the toggle, a cam, and resilient means to maintain the cam roller constantly in contact with the cam face.

6. A machine for winding toroidal coils, which machine comprises a spool ring to contain a supply of strand to be wound on a toroidal core, a guide ring to withdraw a continuously cyclically varying length of strand from the spool ring and 26 to wind the same on the core, brake means to resist the rotation of the spool ring and ,thereby to impose a linear tension upon the strand being wound, and means to drive the guide ring at -a cyclically varying rate of rotation to withdraw 30 strand from the spool ring at constant linear speed of the strand and thereby to drive the spool ring at constant speed of rotation, the withdrawal of the strand being the sole means to drive the spool ring, the said brake means including a rotatable brake member driven by the spool ring, a helical friction member in frictional engagement with the brake member and so formed and wound that the normal drag of the brake member there- (0 spring means to yieldingly maintain the frictional engagement and the said driving means including a driving member running at constant rotary speed, a member to be driven thereby at varying rotary speed, means variably connecting the driving member to the driven member and having a cam follower, a cam, and resilient means to maintain the cam follower constantly in contact with the cam face.

ROBERT PASH. 5o 

